Elevator



J. r. AUSTIN I ELEVATOR Sept. 1, 1936.

3 Sheets-$11991: 3

Filed Aug. 3, 1934 fl wW i m a M ,5

Patented Sept. 1, 1936 Nl'lED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 7 Claims.

The present invention relates to the transportation of vehicles, elevator cars or the like in shafts which are disposed at an angle greater than the angle at which a vehicle such as an autom-obile, will climb with friction due to its own weight. Heretofore, it has been the practice in the elevator art, for example, to provide a shaft, and a single car in the shaft movable up and down therein, an arrangement which is very inefficient and one which requires a relatively large number of elevator shafts in high buildmgs.

The aim of the present invention is to provide an improved arrangement wherein a number of cars may be moved in any desired sequence and in succession up or down the'elevator shaft, as

the case ma be, so that the number of shafts required is reduced to a minimum, thus effecting,

a saving in floor space, a factor which is of prime importance, particularly in high buildings. A Afurther. aim of the invention is to provide an improved arrangement of this 'sort wherein the number of cars in use may be varied to suit requirements, thus giving flexibilty in service,

5 the arrangement being such that additional cars may be brought into service'as desired, and when the trafiic decreases, some of the cars maybe temporarily taken out of use. i

, A further object of the invention is to pro--' 0 vide an improved arrangement which is relatively simple, which requires a small amount .of space, which is efficient in operation, and which may be easily installed. i

- In accordance with the disclosure of the. present invention, the opposite sides of the shaft are provided with a plurality of opposed tracks, the cars are provided at opposite sides with wheels or rollers maintained in firm engagement with the respective opposed tracks, and operating means are provided on the cars for driving the wheels. Preferably, the wheels are provided with resilient tires; for'example, rubber pneumatic tires, and means are provided on the cars for urging the tires into frictional engagement with the opposed tracks. The number of shafts, of

course, will depend upon requirements. If desired, two shafts may be used, one an up shaft and one a down shaft, and in higher buildings, there may be provided an up shaft, a down shaft, and an up and down express shaft.

Other objects will be in part obvious, and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements,

and arrangement of parts which will be exemplisame; a 10 Fig. 3 is a horizontal transverse section of one of the shafts and looking down upon a car therein;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the carrier and a portion of the transfer mechanism; 15

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of what is shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the transfer mech amsm;

Fig. 7 is an elevational view of the lower por- 20 tion of a cage and car therein, the cage being provided with means whereby it may be driven in a horizontal plane; and

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of a hill or mountain provided with shafts of various levels 25 in which a car is adapted to travel.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to that embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 6, wherein the invention is shown as embodied in an elevator for a building or the like, A generally designates 30 an Yup shaft, B a local down shaft, 0 an express up and down shaft. D generally designates the cars adapted to travel in said shafts, and E transfer mechanisms for cages or transfer carriers G which may be located at the bottom 35. and top ofthe shafts, as hereinafter described more in detail.

While three shafts are shown in Fig. 1, two, four, or any other number of shafts may be employed. Each of these shafts A, B and C is dis- 4 0 posed in a substantially vertical position in a building For the like, a portion only of which is shown; Each shaft comprises a front wall In,

a rear wall H and opposed side walls l2. The side walls l2 of each shaft have secured thereto 45 in opposed relation a plurality of spaced apart parallel tracks or rails l3. These tracks may be in the form of I-beams, any desired number of which may be provided, and they may be secured to their respective side walls I2 by bolts or other 5Q suitable fastening means, not shown. These shafts may be made of .any desired height and the tracks are of a corresponding height. Each bar D may be constructed of any suitable material and of any desired size, but is pref- 55;

I of the car'looking at Fig. 2 are=fixed to the ca'r erably made'as light as is consistent with strength and safety. Each car D includes a top M, a bottom I5 and a pair of doors iii of the usual construction.

Mounted on the top M of each car are two pairs of brackets I8. A shaft I 9 is rotatably supported by each pair of brackets, and keyed to each shaft i9 so as to rotate therewith is a plurality of wheels 20 upon each of which is mounted a rubber tire 2i. .The wheels Zikpreferably correspond. to thei n umber joftracks; I3. A worm Wheel 22 is keyed or otherwise fixed to each shaft l9, and each worm wheel meshes with 3 a worm 23 fixed to the opposite ends of a drive the car D. The brackets l8 on the'left-hand side while the right-hand brackets have sliding movement towards the adjacent tracks [3 in suitable the top of theicar. l

Springs 2? are; confined respectivelybetween flanges-28 on the right-hand brackets l8 .and abutments 29 fixed to'the ;top;.'of the :car-soaas to normally urge said'brackets and the rubber tired wheelsthereon intofirm engagementgwith the adjacent tracks'ii3; Thesprings 2'! may have any desired tension, .and'zthe .force. exertedlby them'is sufiicient to spread apart the wheels on opposite sides ofthecar' andito force the. rubber tires against their: respective7'trackszl3 so. that sufficient frictional contact is established;.be+ tween: said .tiresand tracksto enable the carito travel up and downithe. tracksvl3.of the. shafts A; B and C when the:wheelscaredrivenin the proper direction and to hold the car at any .desired'attainedlevel Iwhen' thelcaris out of. motion. This action of the springs in establishing 1 and. maintaining frictional engagement between the; rubber tires and the tracks. is; supplemented by. arrangingthe drive Jconnection between the drive shaft iof .the..motor; and othe driven shafts of theiwheelsso'lthatfthe drive thrust :is in a direction to force the shafts apart and to urge the wheels and: tires toward their respective tracks i3. With such anarrangement, the cars are practically wedged: between theopposite sidewalls of thezshafts. drive arrangement may .be' provided on the loot-- guides ifi fixed1-in:-any:.appropriate manner .to

.tom of each car.

In the basement F..of the buil-ding,.the shafts A, BandCare interrupted so as-to'form: a space X, and the portions. of .theshafts disposed within the basement may be used as; a storage space for the cars D. -In the pent houseF, the shafts A, B and C are also interrupted to provide a space.Xf-,;'and the portions ,of-the shafts in the pent house may. be utilized as aistorage space for'cars D. 1i

For the purposeof transferring theacars D fromthe up shaft Ato the d'ownPshafts 'B and (Land from the'shafts B and C toxtheshaft A, the cages G and the transfer mechanisms E are provided. Each of the cages. is of more or less skeleton form..and' has tracks 13" which are bottom with rollers or. wheels 82 adapted to run i on tracks :83. The. transfer mechanisms; E. are

A similar which is mounted upon a shaft 57 carried by suitable bearings supported by a bracket 68.

The shaft 6'! is provided with a worm wheel 69 meshing with a worm l9 carried by .ashaft H which is driven by an electric motor 12. It is I 1 o ted from Figs. 1 and 4 that with this arrangement, the carrier may be moved from a position in registry with the shaft A to a posi tionin which it is. in registry with the shaft C.

In order to" be able to move the carrier also.

into registry with ..the shaft B, the disk 66 and its motor J2 may be mounted upon a movable platform 13 to which is pivoted one end of an eccentricld. The other end of the eccentric l4 isfpivoted asi'at 1'5, to a disk 16 rotatably mountedxupon a bracket 71. The disk 16 may be con-f nected by suitable gearing, not shown, to the drive shaft 18 of an electric motor 19. The mov-. able platform 13 may be provided with flanged wheels 80 adaptedto run on tracks 8|. I i In the use of the device, any number of cars D may be caused to move-upwardly in'the shaft A, one after the other-.inspaced apart relation and independently ;of. one. another. In order to. effect the movement of a car D upwardly in the shaft A; the motors 12 5.may be started up and thus cause rotation of the wheels 20. Due tothe action of the-springs ZLthe rubber tires on these wheels will be urged into firm frictional engagement .with the tracks. l3 of the shaft A so that they will cause the upward movement ofthe car D in the shaft A. This frictional. engagement between the tracks 53 and the tires .of the car D is augmented by 'thethrust of. the drive connection between the.

motors 25 and the wheels of the car D, as pointed out above. .The car D may be stopped at any desired. floor by shutting off the motors 25, and each carmay be equipped with a; brake of the kind usually; employed upon elevators.

moved to the position shown. in Fig..11 in which the carrier is .inregistry with the shaft A, the car Dmay be. caused to move upwardly until it is dis-,

posed within. the carrier. The motor 12 associated with the upper carrier may now' be started up,:andthedisk-65 caused to rotate through substantially .180 degrees whereupon, due to the cocentric 14, until the carrier is inregistry with the shaft B. When the car Dlhas been caused to be moved downwardly to the lowermost floor, the carrier of the lower transfer mechanism will be brought into registry with either the shaft B or C,.depending upon whetherthe car has descended in the shaft B or .C. The car D is then caused to When the car 'D V hasreached the uppermost floor and the'car'riag'e of the upper transfer mechanism E has been enter the lower carrier which is then moved to,

a position in whichjit is in registry with the shaft A and the car D is again ready to ascend in the when a car is brought down to the lowermost floor in either the shaft B or C, the lower carrier is alined with either of these shafts, depending upon in which of these shafts the car has descended. The car D is then caused to move through the carrier downwardly into either the lower portion of the shaft B or C. A car D may also be stored in the shaft A in the basement by moving the carrier with the car therein into registry with the shaft A and. causing the car D to move downwardly thereinto. In a similar manner, cars may also be stored in the shafts A, B, and C in the pent house.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 8, I have shown the invention applied to an installation within a hill or mountain M. In this instance, there is shown, for illustrative purposes, the vertical shaft I00 at the lower end of which is a horizontal tunnel IIlI leading to the side of the mountain. There are also shown supplemental vertical shafts I02 and I03, and supplemental tunnels I04, the latter being located at different levels. The cages and cars are shown diagrammatically. With this arrangement, it is desirable to provide each cage or transfer carrier with its ownmotive power. For that purpose, the cage, as shown most clearly in Fig. '7, is provided with a small electric motor I05 connected by a belt III! to a shaft I08 on which one pair of wheels 82' are secured. The horizontal tunnels are provided with tracks 83' on which the wheels 82 travel. It will be seen that with this arrangement, the cages with the cars therein may be moved in the horizontal tunnels by energizing the motors I06. The vertical shafts I00, I02, and IE3 are, of course, provided with tracks I3 similar to those disclosed in the preceding embodiment.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made Without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination, a pair of substantially parallel, vertically disposed elevator shafts each having opposed tracks, a transfer carrier disposed at one end of said shafts and having track members adapted to respectively register with the tracks in said shafts, a car adapted to move in said shafts and having rubber tired wheels, means for urging said wheels into firm engagement with said tracks, means for driving said wheels, and single stroke eccentric means associated with said transfer carrier for selectively moving the same into registry with said shafts.

, 2. In combination, a pair of substantially parallel vertically disposed elevator shafts, a plurality of parallel tracks disposed within said shafts at opposite sides thereof, a plurality of cars adapted to ascend in one of said shafts in spaced apart relation and to descend in the other of said shafts, a plurality of deformable rubber drive wheels carried by each car and resiliently engaging said tracks to support and propel the car thereon, means carried by each car for driving said wheels,

spring means for urging each of said wheels into deformed positive driving engagement with said tracks, and a single stroke eccentric means disposed adjacent each end of said shafts for transferring said cars from one shaft to the other.

3. An elevator installation comprising an elevator shaft, a plurality of opposed tracks therein, a car adapted to move in said shaft and having a wheel provided with a resilient deformable tread engageable with each track, means for maintaining each wheel in positive cushioned driving engagement with its respective track, and driving means associated with said car for rotating the wheels whereby the car will be moved smoothly and without vibration in the shaft.

4. In combination, a substantially vertically disposed elevator shaft having opposed tracks at the sides thereof, a car adapted to move within said shaft, a plurality of wheels journalled on said car and projecting therefrom, each of said wheels being provided with a deformable non-slip rubber tread engageable with one of said tracks, means for yieldingly pressing said wheels into firm engagement with said tracks tosupport thecarthereon and position it for free movement within the shaft, and driving means associated with said wheels for rotating them and causing a smooth cushioned car movement within the shaft.

5. In combination, an elevator shaft having tracks rigidly secured to the opposed sides thereof, a car adapted to move within said shaft and having wheels provided with cushioned rubber treads mounted in positive but resilient engagement with said tracks, means for resiliently urging said treads into positive anti-slip driving engagement with the tracks to support the car thereon, and power actuated driving mechanism on the car connected to transmit rotation to said driving wheels and control the car movement.

6. In combination, a substantially vertically disposed elevator shaft, a plurality of tracks supported on opposed sides thereof, a car adapted to move within the shaft and having a plurality of wheels journalled thereon and mounted in frictional engagement with each of said tracks, each of said wheels having a deformable rubber tread frictionally engaging a track, spring actuated means urging each of said wheels into positive non-slip engagement with its respective track, and means to transmit and control the rotation of said wheels whereby the car may be moved within said shaft as desired.

'7. In combination, a pair of parallel spaced elevator shafts, a plurality of parallel opposed tracks secured to the sides of said shafts, a transfer carrier located intermediate of the ends of said shafts and movable in a direction opposed to that of the shafts, track members in the carrier similarly disposed to the shaft tracks, a car adapted to move in said shaft and into and out of the transfer carrier, a plurality of wheels journalled on said car and extending outwardly therefrom, each of said wheels having a deformable anti-slip resilient tread engageable with a track, spring actuated mechanism on the car for maintaining said wheels in positive driving engagement with the tracks, driving mechanism for rotating the wheels to control the car movement, and means to shift the transfer carrier into selective shaft registry whereby the car may be moved to operate in either shaft.

JOHN T. AUSTIN. 

